Honor 7X vs. Moto G5S Plus: Same price, opposing philosophies

The Honor 7X is one of the best budget phones around for under $200. The phone features a gorgeous aluminum design that's backed by a Kirin 659 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage. There's an 18:9 screen up front, and dual cameras at the back.

The Moto G5S Plus also has dual rear cameras, and the phone sports a 5.5-inch 16:9 panel with a home button that houses the fingerprint sensor. The industry as a whole is switching to taller 18:9 panels, and it's likely we'll see Motorola follow suit withthe Moto G6 series. But if you're not a fan of taller screens, the Moto G5S Plus is a decent alternative. Let's see how it fares against Honor's latest budget phone.

What the Honor 7X does better

The Honor 7X easily takes the lead on the design front. Honor has been making gorgeous aluminum unibody phones for some time now, and the Honor 7X resembles the much more upmarket Honor 8 Pro when it comes to the design aesthetic.

The Honor 7X also wins out when it comes to the display, with the 5.93-inch 18:9 panel boasting a better contrast ratio and accurate colors. The reduced bezels also means you're getting more screen real estate in roughly the same size as a 5.5-inch phone — the Honor 7X is just 3mm taller than the 5.5-inch Moto G5S Plus.

The Honor 7X has a nicer 18:9 panel, and the design is much more upmarket.

With the Honor 7X, you're also going to receive updates faster. Although Motorola hasn't altered its software experience following its acquisition by Lenovo, the brand isn't as quick as it used to be in terms of delivering software updates. Motorola led the field for platform version and monthly security updates, but over the last year and a half we've seen the manufacturer lag behind the likes of HMD Global, BlackBerry, and OnePlus.

One reason for the delay in updates could be the expanded portfolio — Motorola now fields phones in the Moto C, Moto E, Moto G, Moto X, and Moto Z series, and the added models and sheer number of SKUs sold globally is likely straining its engineering resources. The result is that there's no Android 8.0 Oreo update for the phone yet, and there's no timeline for when the update will be available.

Meanwhile, Honor has kicked off the Oreo beta program for the Honor 7X, which usually means a stable update is about a month away. That's not ideal, but the Honor 7X is well on track to receive Android 8.0 Oreo before the Moto G5S Plus.

What the Moto G5S Plus does better

Motorola's differentiation in the budget segment has always been the software experience, and things haven't changed much in this area (thankfully). You still get an uncluttered user interface with little to no bloatware, and Moto Display and Moto Actions are meaningful additions that make it easier to interact with the phone.

The Moto G5S Plus offers an uncluttered software experience.

Another area where the Moto G5S Plus wins over the Honor 7X is fast charging. Honor's budget phone is still limited to 5V/2A, while Motorola's TurboPower tech delivers an 15W charge. It comes in handy when you're looking to top up your device in the middle of the day.

And although the Moto G5S Plus has a smaller 3000mAh battery (the Honor 7X has a 3340mAh battery), it is much better optimized and delivers better battery life. If you care about a bloat-free software experience that's akin to pure Android, you'll like what the Moto G5S Plus has to offer.

Which should you buy? Honor 7X

The Moto G5S Plus with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage costs $80 more than the Honor 7X, and you're paying the premium just for the software experience.

EMUI 5.1 has its quirks, but you can eliminate most of them with a third-party launcher, and the phone has a nicer design and a better 18:9 screen. The uncertainty around updates and the higher price tag means you're better off with the Honor 7X.